Hi --

I'm very new to Photoshop and just starting out with it, so please be gentle
with me? :)

I have a photo of my wife which is ruined by a rather large bandaid on her
arm. I've tried attacking it with the patch tool, the healing tool, and the
cloning tool and whilst I can make it look a bit better I can't get it looking
anywhere near acceptable.

Can anyone suggest the best way of removing it?

ian
...

I thought I would give this a quick try...

I selected an area above the bandaid with the lasso, copied onto a new layer (ctrl J), and moved it over the bandaid. I transformed it a bit to better follow the shape of the arm. It didn't quite cover the bandaid, so I copied this layer and again moved/transformed the "patch."

I merged the two new layers. I made a copy of the original and moved it over the "patch." I ctrl clicked on the new layer to make it a selection, then erased the top layer to reveal the patch where the bandaid was.

I then then used the clone tool and healing brush on a new, empty layer to smooth out the fix and fix the shadow. I also had to clone a bit on the outer edge of the fix as I had a bit of errant background from the upper portion of the arm that had to go.

As I said, I just had a very quick go at it...I'm sure your results would be better if you take your time. Maybe some wise and helpful soul will have an even better solution!

I was doing this one, but FrannyMae posted before I finished - and did a such good job, better than mine.

I've tried attacking it with the patch tool, the healing tool, and the cloning tool..
Ian, welcome in. :classic:
I think the big lesson here is to know when to try and fix things and when to simply throw them away.
As you said, the patch is "rather large", and a quick look shows that - very luckily - the upper arm is quite similar in lighting and tones. So it is no coincidence at all that FrannyMae and I did the same process.

So, sometimes a bit of "healing" works, sometimes you need major surgery!

have fun,

I copied sections and used the transform tool. Then used the clone tool to blend in and also used the blur tool to help to create smooth transitons.

Kirk

I used a method similar to FrannyMae's, except I almost never erase anything anymore. I use layer masks instead and blend using the Brush tool with the Airbrush option turned on.

I also added an additional layer and after sampling (alt + click when Brush tool is active) airbrushed here and there to soften/blend some of the transitional areas.

~Danny~

kirkdickinson and FrannyMae: you've forgotten to put in the shadow of the body on bottom part of the arm. Difficult to see on this little section of the image but if you were to look at the whole photo, I think something would look odd.

Besides that, great job on the texture and lighting.

Roland

Roland,

You are right. I didn't do a before / after comparison before posting the photo, or I would have noticed the shadow.

I am not real good with shadows. I have used the burn tool for them, but there is probably a better way.

Kirk

Hi Ian,

Welcome to RP! :pleased:

I had worked on your picture before seeing the great job everybody had done already .... :bigthmb:

I did exactly what FrannyMae did:

'borrowed' (selected and copied) a good part of your wife's arm, pasted it on the bandaid and adapted it to it 'playing with Layer Opacity as well.

For the rest I used Patch and Clone Tools.

:wavey: